Ukrainians in Russia, Belarus should vote only in Ukraine – MFA state secretary

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry believes that the optimal solution for Ukrainian citizens living in Russia and Belarus would be to allow them to vote in post-war elections only on the territory of Ukraine, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and co-chair of the subgroup on electoral participation of Ukrainian citizens abroad Oleksandr Karasevych said.

"The position of the Central Election Commission is that nationwide elections cannot be organized or held on the territory of either Russia or the Republic of Belarus. At the same time, the CEC proposes allowing Ukrainian citizens to participate in elections either in other foreign countries or on the territory of Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry believes that the optimal option is to allow such citizens to vote exclusively in Ukraine," Karasevych said at a meeting of the working group preparing legislative proposals for elections during a special or post-war period on Wednesday.

According to him, organizing voting for such citizens in other foreign states carries the risk of Russian interference in the electoral process.

"We see enormous risks if such citizens are allowed to vote at polling stations that might operate in Armenia, for example, or in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and other countries bordering Russia. This could be used to organize a process controlled by our enemies and block the expression of voters’ will at these polling stations," Karasevych said.

Co-chair of the subgroup on electoral participation of Ukrainians abroad Olena Kondratiuk stressed the importance of adopting a law on holding post-war elections as soon as possible.

She said it is necessary to quickly define political parameters and adopt decisions in order to begin cooperation with foreign states under clear rules and conditions. According to her, once the law is adopted, Ukraine should work with partners willing to help organize the electoral process in the post-war period, as well as with countries where additional agreements and efforts will be required.

Kondratiuk also recalled that under the draft law currently being developed by the working group, the electoral process may start no earlier than six months after the termination or cancellation of martial law.

As reported earlier, the law on elections during a special or post-war period will be applied only once – for holding post-war elections.